


1996

by rhincoln



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 14:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17245757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhincoln/pseuds/rhincoln
Summary: Rhett brought his hand up to the back of Link’s head, unable to keep up with Link’s whispered counting, just listening to him.7… 6… 5…It's New Year's in Buies Creek NC when Rhett and Link decide to go into the new year, and the rest of their lives, together.





	1996

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this today because i wanted to get something with that word count out. hope you enjoy!

Rhett had been asked by Link if they could spend this year at his house. Link’s parents were off to some New Year’s party down in Fuquay, and would be leaving Rhett and Link able to throw firecrackers, eat way too much food, and stay up as long as they wanted to.  
  
No matter how excited, Rhett couldn’t really allow himself to focus on how happy he was about to be once he reached Link’s house. Rhett knew that once he was with Link, Link would take his mind off all his worries, and he’d be rolling in the aisles in no time, but when he was alone, thinking about Link just made him think about how soon Rhett would be in danger of losing him. Possibly forever.  
He cranked up the heating in his car and drove to Link’s in silence, trying to pay attention to the icy roads though he was stuck in his head. He glanced at the radio clock.

 

Four hours until the end of the year.

 

1996 was to be a year of change. Rhett should know, he’d been stressing about it all of 1995. He should have been able to relax on this, the day designated for thinking about the previous instead of the forthcoming year, but he couldn’t. Rhett was to be graduating high school, along with Link, in just a few months, and Link still hadn’t decided what college he was going to. This gave Rhett more of a headache than when he had to decide where he was going to himself. (It had pretty much been decided for him — there was some talk of him maybe being eligible for a sports scholarship at NC state, but even if he didn’t get it he’d most probably end up doing a degree in engineering there. His dad was pretty set on it, and Rhett didn’t care either way. The things he really wanted to do were not viable.)

 

Rhett ran into Link’s mom and Jimmy in the hallway of their house as they got ready to leave.

 

“Now I hope you didn’t obstruct my car!” Jimmy said, and Rhett almost snorted at his flowery way of saying it, but Jimmy’s tone was light so Rhett just smiled and shook his head.  
  
“Oh leave the boy alone,” Sue said, emerging from behind the coat rack, “Hi, Rhett dear. How are your parents doing?”

 

“Good,” Rhett squeezed out, still smiling politely. Jimmy, under his breath added, “I’m just sayin’ — we need to get out of the driveway somehow…”

Rhett cleared his throat a little. “Link upstairs?” he asked as he unzipped his jacket.

 

“Yes, he’s waitin’ on you,” Sue said, smiling at Rhett. She rushed back down the hallway and into the bathroom, and as Rhett took his shoes off he could hear her spray herself down with perfume.  
  
“We’ll be back next year,” Jimmy said with a wink at Rhett. This, admittedly, made Rhett snort, and he gave Jimmy another laugh at his second joke, “If Link said we’ll be back in the mornin’, he lied. Expect us five minutes after midnight, so don’t get any ideas of trashin’ the house or gettin’ girls in here.”  
  
Sue emerged from the bathroom, heels clicking as she rushed down the corridor. “I said leave him alone!” she scolded Jimmy, but didn’t seem too serious in doing it. She gave Rhett another smile before rushing past him, “You boys have fun!”  
  
In a flurry of winter coats, scarves and a heavy mix of a lot of cologne and perfume, Link’s parents whizzed out the door and left Rhett to hang his coat up.  
  
Funny. Link’s mom wanted them to have fun. All Rhett’s parents wanted was to know why on earth a young man his age still liked spending the night over at his friend’s house. His dad had given him a look (one that said people might talk, you know, with both of you being joined at the hip even still, both girlfriendless, both calling each other what, “bo”? Both—). Rhett hated to disappoint his father, but with this he really couldn’t care. He’d just shook his head like his father was wrong, which he was.

 

Link didn’t like Rhett like that.  
  
Rhett pushed his shoes to the side with his foot and was about to trample his way down further into the house, when he spotted Link waiting for him at the end of the foot of the stairs.  
  
Link seemed winded. “I was upstairs,” Link said, sounding apologetic, “I _thought_ I heard your voice.”

 

Rhett laughed, “Ya did, bo.”

 

Link smiled, for a moment standing there and looking at Rhett. Rhett knew exactly what he was thinking — if a dozen years of hanging out together was anything to go by, the night would be a blast.

 

“Lead the way,” Rhett said, gesturing up the stairs. For some reason, he was already trying not to laugh. Link just made him so goddamn happy.

 

Link giggled. “Wait, man, you wanna get something to eat first?”

 

Link didn’t need to ask twice.

 

They ate while going over what just about every person they knew was doing for New Year’s. When they ascended to Link’s room, the topic shifted to college.

 

“What?” Link asked, mouth open incredulously but slightly quirking up at the corners. “Dude, I’m not _not_ goin’ to the same college as you.”  
  
Rhett took a moment for that to sink in. _What?_ “N-no?” Rhett asked, face feeling hot because of tripping up on such an easy word.

 

“No,” Link said, and followed it with a giggle. Rhett willed the tears not to come, but all he wanted to do was jump across the bed and knock Link down onto it, and then dead-move him into being his shoulder to cry on. Rhett was almost shaking in relief. Link must have noticed at least some of what Rhett was feeling on his face because he leaned in a little before pushing himself up off the bed and dragging his butt a little closer to Rhett. He smiled and said, “Not only that, but we’re gonna be roomates.”

 

“Leavin’ home is gonna be hard,” Link added after a pause, “I don’t think I could even do it if you weren’t goin’, too.”  
  
Rhett looked up at him, quiet.  
  
Link talked more, extinguishing some hope that Rhett would do good by his personal New Year’s resolution and open up to him.  
  
“No use getting another girlfriend,” Link said, “What if ya fall in love and then you just gotta go off to college?”  
  
“Long distance,” Rhett offered, “ _obviously,”_ he almost added.

 

“It’s better when they’re there,” Link said, shrugging one shoulder.  
  
And if Link wanted to talk to _girls —_ if he wanted to _freakin’ — God —_ “Why aren’t you _there_ with _girls_ at Tate’s party, then?” Rhett snapped at him. He didn’t mean it to come out as angrily as it had.

 

“I don’t feel like bein’ at Tate’s party…” Link said, and Rhett shook his head. The mood shifted, and Rhett didn’t want to deal with it.  
  
“Yeah. Whatever. Let’s go throw some firecrackers.”

 

They were in Link’s backyard, wrapped up in winter gear but still shivering from the cold. They threw about two firecrackers before they saw a startled bunny sprint across Link’s yard.  
  
Link said something about how he felt bad, about how he once held a bunny and it’s heart had been beating _so fast,_ and suddenly Rhett didn’t feel like throwing firecrackers anymore.

 

They retreated back to Link’s room easily, fed up with the cold and too mature now to really take as much of a pleasure in throwing firecrackers.

 

As midnight neared they found that they were running out of things to do with talking feeling a little weird.

 

“We should go into the New Year right,” Link said and put on Merle Haggard’s _Ramblin’ Fever._ Rhett watched Link walk around the room. He wanted to un-weird the situation as soon as possible, no matter how uneasy he was talking about some things.

 

“You got any new year’s resolutions?” Rhett asked, when Link sat back down.  
  
Link turned the corner of his lips up in a lopsided smile and narrowed his eyes, looking away from Rhett — Rhett thought it sweet that Link was actually thinking that hard about it.  
  
“Not really,” Link said, “Maybe make the most of our summer before we gotta get away from here.”  
  
Rhett snorted. “You talk as if we won’t be roomin’ together…”  
  
Link smiled, “Won’t be roomin’ at Cape Fear, doofus.”  
  
Rhett laughed at the insult, and Link went on, “What about you?”  
  
“Well,” Rhett said, “I oughta stop bein’ a doofus. And also I can’t find a girlfriend, ‘cause I’ll have to leave her, so, my biggest resolution is no girl—”  
  
Link had rolled his eyes so hard when Rhett had started talking that Rhett didn’t know how he could muster the unamused look he was giving him throughout.  
  
Rhett took mercy. “And I gotta figure out how to get more handsome than you. Can’t have all the girls at college fallin’ for ya, too.”  
  
This seemed to embarrass Link more than Rhett’s teasing.

 

“Any real resolutions?” Link asked, impatient, voice a little rough.

 

Rhett thought about it a little. “Wanna stop bein’ such a chicken. Wanna be more… frank.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Link asked, “Like, I didn’t think you were such a big liar. Does this mean when you said I was better lookin’ than you…?” Link was putting on a mock-shocked voice, and it was hilarious, but all Rhett could muster was a small smile as he looked at Link.

 

“I just wanna,” Rhett began, but then looked away. He huffed, frustrated with himself. Beside him, Link was quiet, and Rhett loved him for knowing that Rhett needed it. He loved him for many things. “I don’t feel like bein’ at Tate’s at all. I don’t wanna be mackin’ on some girl. I don’t wanna talk about ‘em, I really couldn’t care less about ‘em. I don’t worry about not bein’ able to have a girlfriend.”

 

The thing he really wanted was not viable.

 

“I get that,” Link said quietly, “But it means you ain’t got no one to kiss tonight.”  
  
“I…” Rhett said, “I don’t care.”

 

“I do.”  
  
“So why ain’t you at the party?” Rhett snapped, again. Honestly, Link was just being ridiculous.  
  
“I don’t wanna kiss _them,”_ Link said.  
  
This shut Rhett right up. If Link held him then, he could compare Rhett to the bunny — Rhett was pretty sure his heart was beating faster. Neither of them said any more for a while — about a minute passed in silence, and then Rhett willed himself to speak. He couldn’t leave Link, whom he loved so goddamn much, hanging. “What time is it?”  
  
Link glanced at the clock at his bedside. “Five to.”

 

“Your parents will be back in ten minutes,” Rhett said, trying to make it sound light though his voice was strained due to his heart being in his throat.  
  
“Oh, Jimmy told you that joke too?” Link asked, sounding a little strained himself.  
  
“Yeah,” Rhett said, and moved up on the bed until his face was almost touching Link’s. He could hear Link exhale. Link looked right into his eyes, and then glanced at the clock again. “Bout a minute,” he muttered. Rhett nodded, eyes briefly flicking from Link’s eyes to his lips.  
  
He was so intoxicated with being that close to Link, feeling Link’s breath on his face and witnessing his eyes up close that it startled him when Link looked away for a while and then whispered “ten” before returning his gaze to Rhett. _9… 8…_

 

Rhett brought his hand up to the back of Link’s head, unable to keep up with Link’s whispered counting, just listening to him. _7… 6… 5…_

 _4.._ Rhett splayed his fingers in Link’s hair. 

 _3._ Link barely said the _“t-”_ of _“two”_ when Rhett pulled him in and kissed him hard. He softened his approach, then, and as Link wrapped himself around Rhett, they kissed into the new year.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Rhett felt his entire body swell with love for Link. Firecrackers had gone off earlier, but now it was time for the fireworks.
> 
>  
> 
> Happy New Year everyone <3 I literally need to be at a party in 15 minutes BRB


End file.
